The Antithesis
Scripture teaches that God, by His saving grace, draws a sharp line throughout the world. That line is not a human invention, but God’s own work, separating His people from the kingdom of darkness and setting them over against it. This spiritual separation and opposition is what some theologians call “the antithesis.” It is the contrast between darkness and light, believer and unbeliever, the church and the world.
This so-called “antithesis” is the result of God’s saving grace and is often referred to in Scripture, though the word itself is not used. The clearest passage that refers to it is II Corinthians 6:14-18. There the word not only describes the antithesis, but tells us what it means in practice.
In those verses the antithesis is described as the contrast between righteousness and unrighteousness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, faith and unbelief and the temple of God and idols. In practice, then, it means that we must “come out from among them, and be separate” (17).
This separation is spiritual; that is, we are not called to come out of the world physically (I Cor. 5:10)—that is the mistake made by those who become monks or nuns, or who forbid marriage or the eating of certain foods. The antithesis does not mean that we separate ourselves physically from the world around us or from the things of this world.
It does mean that we have no fellowship with the works of the wicked (Eph. 5:11-12), and even that we do not make friends of the wicked or have fellowship with them (James 4:4, II Cor. 6:17). We must still be in their company (I Cor. 5:9-11) since we must do our business and live our lives in the world, but even then we must be separate by being holy (“holy” means “separated” in Scripture).
Herein lies one of our objections to the teaching of “common grace.” The idea that there is a grace of God toward the wicked and reprobate creates a kind of “common ground” between God’s people and the world, so that, at least in some respects, believers can keep fellowship with the wicked and make friends with them—after all, they both have grace in common.
But that is not the worst. The Bible makes very clear that the keeping of this separation and opposition to the wicked world is the safety and well-being of the church and of God’s people. That was true already in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 33:28 says, “Israel then shall dwell in safety alone.” In the New Testament it remains true: the promise of God, “I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters” (II Cor. 6:17-18), belongs to those who obey God’s command, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate” (17). How much we need to hear that today! Rev. Ron Hanko
Loving Our Enemies (7)
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:43-48).
At this point we ought to return to the text itself, paying careful attention to its context and to the passage as a whole.
These words appear in the “Sermon on the Mount,” which has rightly been called “the constitution of the kingdom of heaven.” What we have here is instruction concerning the conduct of those who are made, by a wonder of grace, citizens of that kingdom. From verse 21 onward, the Lord contrasts the principles governing the life of the citizens of the kingdom with the precepts of the Jews, who claimed to be citizens of the kingdom but were not. Each section begins with the words, “Ye have heard that it hath been said …” and here we have the same pattern.
The Jews, in a miserable perversion of the law, defined their neighbour, whom God commanded them to love, as anyone who did good to them. Their enemy, however, was excluded from that command.
Jesus teaches that in the kingdom of heaven the love we are commanded to have for our neighbour comes to its fullest expression. We are to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us and pray for them who persecute us.
As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we are also sons of God. God, who brings us by sovereign grace into His kingdom, also makes us His children. We are His dear sons and daughters. By nature, however, we are enemies of the kingdom and enemies of God. We hate Him and we hate our neighbour. But He saves us, and thus we become citizens of the kingdom and members of His family.
As sons and daughters, we are called to imitate our Father, just as any son who loves his father seeks to imitate him (cf. Eph. 5:1–2, where the word translated “followers” in the KJV is literally “imitators”).
And here lies the point of tension.
The defenders of “common grace” want to make verse 45b teach a love of God for all men. It is certainly true that we are called to love our neighbours, that is, all with whom we come into contact, and that in doing so we are called to imitate our Father in heaven. But it does not follow from this, as the supporters of “common grace” maintain, that God loves all men. That conclusion does not hold.
There is one crucial truth we must not forget. It is indeed true that God loves His enemies, blesses them that curse Him, and does good to them that hate Him. But these enemies are His own people as they are by nature. God loved us when we were enemies (Rom. 5:8). That is the wonder of salvation.
We must never forget the doctrine of predestination. God knows His elect. He chose them from all eternity. He redeemed them in the blood of His own Son. His love for them is eternal and unchangeable in Jesus Christ. It is a love of sovereign grace. He loved them though they were His enemies. And that is precisely what we are called to imitate.
This is not only an objective truth, but a subjective and pressing one. If we know the love of God—that love for us who are worthless and undeserving sinners—and if we experience it in our hearts, then we are confronted with the urgent obligation to love those who are our enemies.
It is only a small thing that we love our enemies. It is a great and overwhelming thing that God loves us.
In the kingdom we experience God’s great love. We as citizens of that kingdom are therefore called to love even those who hate us and persecute us. In this way we show that we are children of our Father in heaven.
What a beautiful truth, and what an urgent calling!
One more aspect of this truth remains to be discussed, but we will wait until the next issue of the News. Prof. Herman Hanko
What Is the Future of the Jews?
We have already established that “Israel” in Scripture is another name for the elect. That name, in its true significance, belongs more properly to the elect than the name “church” belongs to those who rely merely on outward connection to the church (they are not “called out”), or the name “world” belongs to those for whom Christ did not die. Israel is the elect, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, and they alone are “Israel.” Scripture itself makes this clear, for Hebrews 12:22–23 identifies Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem with “the general assembly and church of the firstborn.”
This means that the promises God made to Israel were essentially promises of spiritual and heavenly things. The earthly elements of those promises were only types and shadows pointing to heavenly realities. If this were not so, Abraham himself would never have received the promises, for he had “none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on” (Acts 7:5). Instead, he looked for the fulfilment of the promises in “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).
We must also remember that all the earthly elements of the promises made to Abraham and to Israel have already been fulfilled. Solomon acknowledges this in his prayer at the dedication of the temple: “There hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant” (I Kings 8:56).
Thus the promises were truly only for the elect Israelites, the true Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). Only they, by grace, could inherit the promises. Romans 11:7 states this plainly: “The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”
What, then, does all this mean for the future of Israel?
First, it means that there is no special earthly future promised to the nation as such. The outward and earthly elements of the promises have been fulfilled, and the nation has been cast away by God, something irrevocable (Rom. 9:28).
Second, this does not mean that God has cast away His people, for the elect remnant continues to be saved. Indeed, they were the only true Israel all along.
Third, by virtue of the fact that they are “natural branches,” they, in their generations, can be grafted in again. Thus, although the nation as a nation has been cast away, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew” (Rom. 11:2). The remnant according to election continues to be saved and to receive the promises, not now in their outward and typical form, but in their full spiritual realization. For this reason there continues to be a remnant saved from among the Jews.
This leaves us with the question of what Romans 11:26 means, a passage we will take up next. Rev. Ron Hanko
